Beer expert, Adam Pearson says IPA beer goes great with spicy Indian food. (Photo: Julian Brown)
?By Julian Brown
juliancavanghbrown@gmail.com
Grilling steaks? Drop the Shiraz and pick up a porter. Salmon on tonight?s menu? Why not go for a Belgian wheat beer instead of a Chardonnay.
If you?re looking for a fine wine to pair with your dinner tonight, forget it. Haligonians in the know are now looking to beer to pair with their favourite meals.
?Beer is actually a better food pairing than wine, generally speaking. You have so many more ingredients to work with,? says Greg Hutchinson, the man in charge of beer selection at Premier Wine & Spirits inside the City Atlantic Centre on Dresden Row. ? The cultural standards that equate wine on the table with gourmet food and beer in a cooler with a tail gate party are quickly vanishing.
This perception that wine has higher status than beer likely comes from centuries of drinking behavior, says Hutchinson.
?Beer has always been the poor man?s drink, the lowly
commoner, workingman?s kind of thing. Whereas wine has got the big, highfalutin? status.?
?It?s definitely changing, the craft beer scene has a lot of momentum behind it.?
Microbreweries and brewpubs have been sprouting up all over North America since the 1980s. This new wave of brewers are pushing aside the mass-produced lagers in favour of more creative beer with a wider range of flavours.
Over the past nine years, Hutchinson has built his beer selection into one of the best in the country.
Premium imports from Europe, the a bunch of craft beer coming out of North America and some selections from Asia complete a selection you can?t find anywhere else in town.? It is selection and quality such as this that makes pairing food with beer possible.
In the late ?90s, Halifax finally got two local craft-brew options with the establishment of the Propeller and Garrison breweries. Both are now wildly popular and have developed a variety of food-friendly beers.
Adam Pearson, retail and events manager at Garrison Brewery and a self-titled ?local food ambassador? also prefers beer with his meals.
?When it comes down to it, to appreciate the subtleties of wine you really need an advanced palate,? said Pearson.
?With beer, there are so many kinds and there is so much you can do with each variety.?
Pearson says the association with wine, fine dining and class may come from the perception that traditions that stem from the Mediterranean coasts of Spain, Italy and France are considered fancy.
Ironically, Pearson notes, some of the best beer comes from those countries.
One of Pearson?s favourite brews is the India Pale Ale, a hugely popular beer made with lots of hops.
IPAs and their strong distinct flavours largely define the American craft beer movement.
He explains that it?s distinctively hoppy taste came about through bumping the alcohol content and adding additional hops for preservation so that the beer wouldn?t spoil on it?s way to India to be enjoyed by thirsty British Imperial soldiers.
Ironically, Pearson says, that an IPA goes best with Indian food. ? ?That citric, crisp bitterness just cuts right through the spice.? ? ?Having a screaming hot plate of vindaloo and a Garrison Imperial IPA next to it, probably two of my favourite things that go together,? said Pearson.
Beef and beer is another combination Pearson raves about, pointing out the classic Irish steak and Guinness pie and his homemade beer-braised short ribs recipe.
Despite the long-standing notion that steak is best enjoyed with red wine, Pearson says ?rules are meant to be broken.?
But what about Christmas dinner? Sticking with beer instead of going for wine at a turkey feast has long been considered a sign of immaturity in some households.
For beer pros, the decision is simple.
?I?ll be drinking spruce beer,? says Pearson. Garrison brews a spruce beer every winter and this year it comes out on Dec. 14.
?A saison (a strong, flavourful farmhouse beer) is always my go to,? said Hutchinson as he suggests a large corked bottle of Avec les Bons Voeux (in English: ?with best wishes?) from the Dupont Brewery in Belgium.
Source: http://thecommoner.kingsjournalism.com/?p=24085
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